Israel’s Defense Ministry on Sunday announced the purchase from the US of 25 new F35 aircraft, manufactured by Lockheed Martin. Upon completion of the transaction, Israel’s fleet of the world’s most advanced stealth aircraft will be expanded to 75. As of November 2022, the Israeli Airforce has 36 F-35s in service.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (Likud), approved the recommendation of the Chief of Staff, the Director General of the Defense Ministry, and the Commander of the Air Force, to procure a third squadron of the plane designated as “Adir.”
The first nine F-35s became operational with the Israeli Air Force in December 2017. On May 22, 2018, Haaretz quoted Air Force Commander Major General Amikam Norkin who reported that Israel had become the first country in the world to use the F-35 in combat.
The delegation of the defense ministry in the US will issue an official procurement request to the Americans. The approval and signing of the transaction is expected in the coming months. The deal is estimated at $3 billion, to be paid by the US foreign aid funds.
The deal will continue the policy whereby Lockheed Martin is committed to sharing some of the F-35 production with Israeli companies.
In January, the Jerusalem Post reported that the US Defense Department and intelligence services barred Israel Air Force (IAF) pilots with foreign passports other than Israeli from flying the F-35 fighter jets, for fear of security and technology leaks. The IAF gave in to this stipulation and scrutinized the assignment of pilots to the F-35 Adir accordingly.
